Favouring non-discriminatory universal nuclear disarmament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India is ready to negotiate the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) which is multilateral, non-discriminatory and verifiable.
Addressing a conference of top commanders of the three defence services here, he said it needs to be ensured that discriminatory standards and approaches in global disarmament are not perpetuated.
"There is a revival of interest on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues. We welcome this because India was a pioneer in the campaign for a nuclear weapons free world," Mr Singh said.
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He was apparently referring to the push being given by the US under the Obama Administration to non-proliferation initiatives like Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and FMCT.
At the behest of the US, the UN Security Council recently adopted a resolution asking all nuclear weapon states to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"We are read to negotiate a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty which is multilateral, non-discriminatory and verifiable," Mr Singh said while noting that "as a responsible nuclear weapon state, we wish to see nuclear disarmament that is global, non-discriminatory and universal in nature".
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India has maintained that it will not sign the NPT in its present form as it is flawed and discriminatory.